The Crowther Double Hot Cake is a Crowther distortion pedal. Close alternatives include the Keeley Oxblood Overdrive and the Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax. It pairs well with the Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and the Peavey VTM-120.
Crowther Double Hot Cake
Crowther · pedal
The Crowther Audio Hot Cake CRM is a Cream-finish edition of the legendary New Zealand boutique overdrive pedal handbuilt by Paul Crowther. The Hot Cake is a FET-based overdrive and distortion using asymmetric clipping that closely mimics how a tube amplifier behaves when pushed into saturation, producing warm, harmonically rich breakup while leaving the undistorted component of the guitar signal intact. A Presence control provides midrange boost and a Cream switch adds a clean boost option. The CRM finish shares the identical circuit with other Hot Cake versions. Used by blues, rock, and studio players for decades.
- hot
- clipping
- fet
- boost
- midrange
- presence
- blues
- tube
Genres the Crowther Double Hot Cake is commonly used in
- Rock
- Blues
- Classic Rock
- Country
- Alternative
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Indie Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Crowther Double Hot Cake
Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head
amplifier
25% matchFeed a high gain signal into Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Peavey VTM-120
Peavey
23% matchPeavey VTM-120 takes that high gain character and pushes it toward tight
Gallien-Krueger Fusion 210
Gallien Krueger
tonal matchFeed a high gain signal into Gallien-Krueger Fusion 210 and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Traynor BB115
Traynor
tonal matchFeed a high gain signal into Traynor BB115 and it comes out closer to tight
Phil Jones X4C NanoBass 35W 1x4 Combo
Phil Jones
tonal matchPhil Jones X4C NanoBass 35W 1x4 Combo pushes a high gain tone toward mid-forward
Ceriatone HRM 50
Ceriatone
tonal matchStack Ceriatone HRM 50 on top and a high gain tone tightens toward mid-forward
Egnater Renegade 65 4x10 Combo
Egnater
tonal matchEgnater Renegade 65 4x10 Combo takes that high gain character and pushes it toward tight
Gallien-Krueger Legacy 212
Gallien Krueger
tonal matchStack Gallien-Krueger Legacy 212 on top and a high gain tone tightens toward mid-forward
Pedals that stack with the Crowther Double Hot Cake
Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff
Electro-Harmonix
20% matchFeed a high gain signal into Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff and it comes out closer to mid-forward
Suhr Shiba Drive
Suhr
20% matchSuhr Shiba Drive pushes a high gain tone toward mid-forward
Boss CE-2W Chorus Waza Craft
Boss
19% matchRun Boss CE-2W Chorus Waza Craft after Crowther Double Hot Cake in the signal chain, clear of Crowther Double Hot Cake's own gain stage
Wampler Cory Wong
Wampler
19% matchBoth lean toward high gain and clean boost respectively — close enough in character that they complement instead of clashing
Meris Mercury7 Reverb
Meris
15% matchRun Meris Mercury7 Reverb after Crowther Double Hot Cake in the signal chain, clear of Crowther Double Hot Cake's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Boss RV-6 Reverb
Boss
15% matchRun Boss RV-6 Reverb after Crowther Double Hot Cake in the signal chain, clear of Crowther Double Hot Cake's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Laney TI-Boost
Laney
tonal matchLaney TI-Boost is voiced for a clean amp's front end — Crowther Double Hot Cake gives it exactly that
Mooer Flex Boost
Mooer
tonal matchMooer Flex Boost's own voicing points at a clean amp's front end, and Crowther Double Hot Cake delivers it
Alternativessee all similar tone character →
Keeley Oxblood Overdrive
Keeley
75% similarityShared character: versatility, combination, presence
Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax
Electro-Harmonix
73% similarityShared character: two_channels, combination, transparent
Browne Amplification Ethane
Browne Amplification
73% similarityShared character: two_channels, combination, boost
Cornerstone Antique v2
Cornerstone
73% similarityShared character: versatility, gain, boost
Dunlop WHE207 Way Huge Green Rhino Overdrive
Dunlop
71% similarityShared character: presence_control, presence, boost
Empress Effects Drive Analog Overdrive
Empress
71% similarityShared character: versatility, transparent, boost
Jackson Audio Broken Arrow Overdrive
Jackson Audio
71% similarityShared character: versatility, boost, presence
Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer
Ibanez
70% similarityShared character: boost, presence, natural
Wampler Tumnus
Wampler
70% similarityShared character: boost, presence, transparent
Snouse BlackBox Overdrive 2
Snouse
70% similarityShared character: boost, presence, transparent
Cornerstone Cio-Ant
Cornerstone
70% similarityShared character: boost, natural, blues_players
Electro-Harmonix ERD
Electro-Harmonix
70% similarityShared character: boost, presence, transparent
See all alternatives to the Crowther Double Hot Cake (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Crowther Double Hot Cake?+
The closest matches in character are the Keeley Oxblood Overdrive, the Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax, the Browne Amplification Ethane.
What pairs well with the Crowther Double Hot Cake?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head, Peavey VTM-120, Gallien-Krueger Fusion 210 — Feed a high gain signal into Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head and it comes out closer to mid-forward.